A common thread on adult Webmaster message boards is “Newbies and Free Porn are Ruining the Business.” To me, that statement is not necessarily true. What these people are trying to say is that their sales are down and they point the blame toward the proliferation of “free porn” on the Internet.The whole concept of free porn is to lead the surfer to a sale. So, if free porn were truly harming the market, it would be self-defeating. Spending money on hosting and content, and taking the time to design and run a free site where the surfer does not buy anything because he can “get it for free”, doesn’t make sense. The surfer has to spend money somewhere to make it work.

What also doesn’t make sense is accusing a newbie of stealing business. Someone with little skills, experience and money taking business from an established Webmaster is laughable at best. Unless that newbie is the next Hustler, it does not make sense. I think we have to look beyond the blame game and right some wrongs with what is being offered.

Yes, it’s tougher to make a buck in this business today than ever before, but now is when the strong survive and the weak die. The adult Internet is improving every day. Today’s surfer is more sophisticated and demands a better product. If you want to be in this market long term you have to understand this. To succeed, it’s imperative to stay ahead of our competitors or at least be on their same level.

My strength is content. I know little about design and less about traffic. So, even though I may be slightly biased, you shouldn’t ignore what I’m saying. We still need quality traffic and a thought-provoking design to convert that traffic. The bottom line is this, though: the surfer logs on to our sites to look at content and not to be amazed by flash designs or herded around.

The surfer wants the content that fits his needs, which he believes are individual to him. A site needs a central theme and style, and should stick to them. This all needs to be reflected in the content. If you have a TEEN site, only put teen content on it. When purchasing content for that site, only buy if it suits the site’s particular theme, or for a particular section in it. When you create a themed site you can target the traffic looking for what you have to offer.

The surfer who pays for a membership will sign up and stay, based on what is displayed. A Webmaster needs to spend a lot of time looking for the right content to satisfy his members. He will obviously have some favorite content providers who are good, solid suppliers of the product he needs, but he must always be on the lookout for new suppliers – those who might have his particular style of model, or perhaps a new drop-dead-gorgeous model who will without doubt be the next big thing for conversions and retention.

Finding these special models is very important. They are exceptional, and only about one in 30 that get shot in my opinion turn out to be special. These models catch the eyes of the surfers and hook them into spending money. The content inside the site will keep them hooked. These models are often simply the type who turn up, do some work and stay to become “super” models or disappear. Unless it’s a “porn star” site the ones that disappear quickly are often the really important ones.

They are not all over the Internet yet, so the site has a girl who is semi-exclusive at this point. Few sites can afford one of these special models on an exclusive deal. Plus the savvy Webmaster will have more than one of them in his tour and website. They MUST be in the tour as a featured model. They will bring in the most traffic and convert the best. Then inside the site they can even have their own section.

Porn consumers have always “fallen in love” with models. Look at the lines getting autographs at a convention. They write emails, letters and send gifts to the ones they dream about. In their mind they form personal attachments to them, be it Jenna Jameson or a model that did four photo shoots and disappeared. A skilled Webmaster will spot this model and snap up the work eagerly because he knows his members will be staying in the hopes of seeing another set or movie featuring that particular model.

Magazines and video production companies have learned this over the years and some Webmasters are realizing this as well. They will feature a particularly great model in her own section within a site. Write stories about her adventures and if possible get some exclusive work from her.

Spotting these models is an art. They will be attractive, but that is not what makes them special. They will have a look in their eyes that says, “Join me” or “Look what I have.” They display their bodies in such a way that makes them seem more willing than other models. There is a sexual charge that comes off of their pictures – this alone sets them apart from the rest. Put this model in tours, into feeder sites and banners and watch sign-up ratios climb steadily.

Having the latest content featuring the latest models helps a site stay fresh. Signing up with content providers and getting their newsletters with the latest sets and freshest models is a great idea. Webmasters can save a lot of time trolling around the Internet in search of what they need and instead can use their time to improve design, or work on traffic.

Yes, there are more websites and more Webmasters today than two years ago, but there are also more surfers. Some sites only run the works of professional pornographers like Hustler, Score and Private, but there is still room for all of us. What we have to remember is our potential member is only going to be with us for up to three months on average. He will then move on to be hopefully replaced by another surfer.

A surfer that leaves a professional site run by people who respect consumers and their needs is not going to accept less than that in the future. A surfer’s expectations usually rise from membership to membership.

Remember, you do not want to design a site with the tour having images from sets not inside the site, or a quality and style not reflected in the site. Filling a site with content that simply does not “hit the spot” or content bought on price and quantity and not quality will not convert traffic. The recent rush of “content blowout sales” is not happening because that content is selling well. It’s because it’s old, overused, never did sell well or the content provider is desperate for money. Smart Webmasters need good content that will help convert, not a “blowout deal”, especially in this day and age where charge backs are not only an inconvenience, but will put you out of business. Just make sure to deliver a product that is everything it claims to be, arouses desire, and satisfies the consumer… all at a fair price.